Veeam Evaluation on ESXi host

[shivani.sharma]

Hello,

I am trying to evaluate Veeam for a VM on ESXi host. I have Veeam backup and replication server installed on a windows 2008 server VM on the ESXi host and I am using the default settings for proxy and repository server. So the same server is acting as the backup and replication/proxy and repository. The ESXi host is connected to iSCSI SAN storage. I have assigned 400GB of hard drive to this VM which is hosting Veeam servers to use that as a repository. Now i am trying to backup another VM on the same ESXi host using Veeam and the backup is running very slow. I have Gigabit interface between the ESXi host and SAN. However the processing rate is only 7MB/s and the bottleneck is reported as source. I also see that the backup proxy runs only when run in Network mode. VM size is 100GB and right now it says its going to take around 13-14 hours to complete the job.

Could you please help me figure why I am getting so less processing speed and how can I increase that? Should I change my infrastructure to increase the performance? Is there a way for me to select the iSCSI SAN as a repository directly?


Thank you.

[Vitaliy S.]

Hello Shivani,

Since your bottleneck statistics reports source as the weakest part for VM data retrieval process, then selecting different destination target will not improve the backup job performance. I would recommend you to try either hotadd or direct SAN access backup mode in order to have better job performance rates.

Please check this F.A.Q. topic for more information about hotadd/direct SAN mode configuration and let us know your job performance after you do the required changes.

Thank you!

[shivani.sharma]

Hello Vitaliy,

I tried direct SAN access backup with my setup and it does not work. What changes will I have to make to make direct SAN work?

Thank you.

Shivani

[Vitaliy S.]

Have you tried to follow the steps described in the topic I have referenced above?

Q: I have iSCSI SAN and running Veeam Backup in a VM. Can I use direct SAN access mode?
A: Yes, you need to configuring direct SAN access using Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator bundled with Windows. Our customers report best results with Windows 2008 R2. If your Veeam Backup is installed on Windows 2003, be sure to review the corresponding known issue in the Release Notes document that comes with your download, and also available on product page under Resources tab.

Q: I have never configured Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator, settings seem too complex.
A: See the following step-by-step guide: The Mission Manual Part 1: Veeam B & R Direct SAN Backups (courtesy of Justin Paul)